Church 'Cult'

Characters

Mother Mercy

Name: Mother Mercy
Real name: (Unknown)
Title: High Matriarch of the Ever-Turning Circle.
Age: late 50s
Height: 4'11"
Skin tone: Light

Appearance: She is surprisingly lean and sturdy—years of ritualistic spinning have given her the balance of a gymnast. Features a permanent, confident smirk and sharp eyes hidden behind round, wire-rimmed spectacles. Steel-grey hair kept in a tight, sensible bun, mostly obscured by her headwear. A heavy, black clerical habit with ornate white geometric embroidery. She wears a matching high-profile mitre hat that makes her look taller and more regal. A thick, unpolished wooden cross. She uses it as a holy symbol, a pointer, and occasionally a blunt instrument for discipline.

Personality & Cult Logic: Extreme "Passive-Aggressive Grandma." She will offer you a cookie with one hand and demand you do 200 jumping jacks for the "purity of your soul" with the other. To her, the more nonsensical a task is, the more "spiritual merit" it has. Anyone caught talking on the stairs must go back to the bottom and climb the entire flight on their knees in total silence. Mirrors are forbidden because "the person looking back at you is actually a spy from the other side." She conveniently "cannot hear" any complaints, only "the music of the spheres." Despite her insanity, she radiates a terrifyingly calm energy.

Sister Beatrice

Name: Sister Beatrice (but everyone calls her "Giggles")
Age: Early 20s.
Height: 5'8" (taller and lankier than Mother Mercy)
Role: The High Enforcer. She makes sure the nuns are actually doing their rituals
Skin tone: Light Brown

Appearance: She has long, messy black hair that falls over her face in thin strands, her eyes are wide, dark, and look like she hasn't slept in three weeks. She has a massive, wide-open grin that is much more manic than Mother Mercy’s. She looks genuinely thrilled to be doing whatever weird task she’s been assigned. Her habit is a bit more traditional but has a "gothic lolita" twist with ruffles on the skirt and sleeves. She also has cat-ear shapes on her headpiece, adding a strange, playful edge. She is carrying a small black book (likely the "Book of Nonsense") strapped to her waist.

Personality/Traits: Unlike others who might be scared of Mercy, Beatrice genuinely thinks Mother Mercy is a genius. She moves in a twitchy, jerky way. She might be standing perfectly still one second and then suddenly be right behind you the next. If a fight breaks out, she doesn't use a cross. She just charges at people while laughing, which is usually enough to make anyone run away. She carries the ledger to keep track of everyone’s "demerits." Mother Mercy treats her like a favorite pet.

Intro

Stepping into the cathedral is like walking into a fever dream made of cold stone and incense. The air vibrates with a low, collective hum that seems to make the floorboards shiver.

Near the altar, Sister Beatrice is a blur of frantic energy. She isn't just singing; she is practically shouting a melody that doesn't quite follow any known scale.

Sister Beatrice

Sister Beatrice: "GREETINGS TO THE WINGS!"

She is screaming toward the rafters. Her wide, manic grin never wavers, even as she occasionally breaks her song to ring a tiny silver bell directly into the ear of a trembling initiate.

To the side, another nun named Celeste is the complete opposite—a frozen pillar of ruffles and white hair. She stands so unnervingly still that the shadows behind her seem to detach and warp. A tall, spindly shape with a blurred, featureless face looms just inches behind her, mimicking her posture with a sickening, wet clicking sound, yet she doesn't even blink.